Arcs of Remnant: Jaune's Cat
by bulletproofpencil
Summary: Summary should be in the first chapter. It was way too long to put it in this summary box thingy.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: For those of you who are confused, this is a rewrite of "Jaune's Cat". I decided to rewrite it because I know that I moved the plot way too fast and I left out so many things for many reasons, but I just chalk it up to "I was too lazy to write it out." There will be changes to the plot, things that I originally wanted to include. The ideas that I wanted to include were cut because I didn't want to drag out the story for too long, but then I though "fuck it, I'll do it anyway." So here it is, the original (new) version of "Jaune's Cat."**

* * *

Jaune laid in bed, and like he'd done every night at Beacon, questioned his decision to come to the school. While it has been a few months since he started training with Pyrrha on the rooftop, Jaune still hasn't gained the skill to fight with Pyrrha at her full power. Not only does he not have the fighting capability to look like he belongs in Beacon, he still has almost no control over his aura, let alone figuring out his semblance. "Why am I even here?" Jaune softly thought out loud.

"Rwaar," Jaune's thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a small creature crying and scratching at the door.

"What the hell?" Jaune softly spoke to himself as he sat up. Jaune slowly got up and checked to see if his teammates were still asleep before grabbing Crocea Mors and quietly creeping to the door.

"Rwaar," the cries came again followed by the sound of scratching.

Jaune unsheathed his blade, readied his weapon and cautiously opened the door. The door opened and revealed a small feline creature, sitting there and looking up at him. The creature's eyes looked up at him, dilated in the dim light, as if the creature was begging to be let in. Jaune stuck his head out of the door and looked down both ends of the hallway.

"How did you end up here, little guy?" Jaune asked the creature.

"Mrawr," the creature let out in response.

Jaune looked around once more before picking up the creature, closing the door, and sitting down at the side of his bed. Jaune set the creature down in front of him and wondered what the creature could be.

"Hmm, you look like a full grown cat, but you also look like a kitten," Jaune continued to think out loud, "I should probably call Ruby, she's had some experience with animals."

Ruby was awoken by the buzzing and ringing of her scroll. Picking it up and looking at the screen, she blushed at who the caller was. "Jaune?" she said as she picked up the call.

"Hey, Ruby, can you, uh, come over?" Jaune hesitantly asked, "I kinda need you right now."

"I don't think Yang would appreciate any guy asking her younger sister to visit them in the middle of the night." Ruby said, not knowing what else to say.

"What?" Jaune asked, confused, "I just need you to come over, there's some kind of animal here and I need you to take a look at it."

"That's a weird thing to ask from a girl before asking them on a date, Jaune," Ruby halfheartedly scolded.

"I'm being serious here, Ruby," Jaune said, unaware that Ruby had misunderstood what he was saying, "And please bring a can of Zwei's food."

Ruby blushed as she hung up the phone. Confused, but trusting her instincts that Jaune wouldn't ask of her what she was thinking, Ruby grabbed a can of dog food and a can opener before walking over to team JNPR's dorm room.

"If this is some kind of sick fetish, you are so dead to me," she quietly scolded.

"Ruby, I have no idea what you were thinking, but I have no idea what this is, so I thought you might know," Jaune said in defense before holding up the feline cub.

"Oh my gawd it's so cute," Ruby squealed before taking the cub from Jaune's hands.

"So what do you think it is?" Jaune asked while opening the can of wet dog food, "He's just as big as a fully grown cat, but he still looks like a kitten."

"I have no idea, maybe a big cat?" Ruby suggested, "But I've never seen one with gray fur. We should take him to Ozpin or Professor Peter, they should be able to identify what he is."

Jaune sighed, "I was afraid of that, I kind of wanted to know if he was dangerous or not before I let him sleep in the same room as any of us."

"Are you going to keep him?" Ruby excitedly asked, "You should, he's just so cute."

"At first, I was, you know, as a pet," Jaune said, "but then I noticed his aura after a while."

Ruby closed her eyes and focused on the feline cub, "Whoa, what the hell?"

"I was wondering how a baby animal can have such a large amount of aura," Jaune said, "only animals with combat training can develop a noticeable amount of aura, and even then, it's not as much as him."

"I think it's awesome," Ruby said, "it gives you another reason to keep him. Of course, you still have to go see Ozpin and get permission first."

"I was afraid you were going to say that," Jaune sighed and leaned his head back against the bed.

"You'll be fine, Jaune," Ruby said, "just like initiation, when you stepped up and first led your team."

"Thanks, Ruby," Jaune smiled, "Oh, and can I have a few more cans of dog food, just enough so I can keep him fed until I find out what I should be feeding him?"

"Sure thing," Ruby smiled as she stepped out the door, "Sorry about earlier."

"It's okay," Jaune awkwardly laughed, "You were sleepy, and I'm sure any other girl would think the same. Goodnight."

"Night, Jaune," Ruby said, closing the door behind her.

'Why did I think he was coming onto me?' Ruby thought as she walked back to her bed before shrugging to herself, 'it must be growing up with Yang.'

As soon as morning came, Jaune got up before his teammates and made his way to Ozpin's office.

"Uh, Professor Ozpin?" Jaune timidly asked as he stepped through the door.

"Mister Arc, come in," Ozpin said as he sipped on his coffee, not turning his chair to face Jaune.

"I, uh. This kitten wandered to my dorm room, and I would like to have your permission to keep him," Jaune nervously said.

"Mister Arc, I assume you already know the school's policy concerning pets and animals," Ozpin said, turning the chair to face Jaune.

"I know, only animals trained for combat, but just look at him," Jaune held the feline cub up, "I'm pretty sure he's some large feline species, and the amount of aura he has would make him a great fighter if he was trained."

Jaune put the cub down before it walked over to Ozpin and jumped into his lap.

"Hmm," the headmaster thought while petting the cub. "All right, but school policy states that combat animals in the school must be trained by a student. Are you sure you have the capability to train him?"

"In all honesty, no," Jaune looked down in shame, "I'm probably the worst fighter here at Beacon, but if I have the potential to become a huntsman, then I know that I have the potential to train an animal to fight alongside my teammates and I."

Ozpin smiled at the boy's tenacity, "Very well. From this day forward, as leader of team JNPR, you will train this snow leopard cub as part of your team."

"Say what?" Jaune asked, dumbfounded. "Snow leopard? I thought it was like a Bengal or something."

"I'll make arrangements with the local zoo," Ozpin said, ignoring Jaune's sudden loss for words, "they should be able to provide you with the necessary items to raise a snow leopard. Oh, and please do keep him behaved, I'd hate to see such a beautiful creature to be put down because you let him maul a student."

"S-snow leopard?" Jaune stuttered as he walked back to his dorm room, "Ruby, Halp!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: This would have been up yesterday if it hadn't been for Sheena's twitter post (which I found on the RWBY subreddit). There isn't much in this world that can make me stop all that I'm doing and cry. I have lost people in my life one way or another, and a premature death is probably the worst one. It isn't the fact that they were so young and had a whole life ahead of them that makes me sad, it's the moments and memories that could have been made that will never happen (if that makes sense). Anyway, here's the second chapter. Enjoy and send me lovely reviews (or not), just know that I read every single one of them.**

* * *

"A snow leopard, huh?" Ren pondered.

"So what are we going to name him?" Nora excitedly asked, "It should be something awesome, like 'Spike,' or 'Rex.'"

"Nora, those are dog names," Blake reminded.

"What about 'Bear?'" Nora suggested.

"But he's a snow leopard," Ruby cut in.

"You know, for one of the most dangerous cats out there, he's pretty cute," Weiss said as she dangled a cat toy around for the cub to pounce on.

"Forget names, for now. Let's focus on where we should start," Jaune said, "Do we start training him, or wait, or what?"

"He's already eating somewhat solid food, so someone should start training him," Pyrrha speculated.

"Blake, you're a cat faunus, how old is he?" Yang asked.

"Just because I'm a cat faunus, it doesn't mean I know how old species of cats should be when they start eating," Blake said, somewhat annoyed.

"But do you know how old he is?" Ruby asked.

"At least two months, three at the most," Blake said while crossing her arms, "and whoever trains him should be the only to handle him."

"So who's going to train him?" Jaune asked and all eyes fell on him, "What?"

"You're the one who found him, and you do need to improve your skills as well," Ren said.

"Why me?" Jaune asked, "What if I'm not strong enough or I'm not skilled enough as a fighter to handle him?"

"You're similar to him," Pyrrha said, "You both have a lot of aura and child-like in combat."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," Jaune said defensively.

"Jaune, you lost in a sparring match with Zwei last week," Ruby reminded.

"Hmph, whatever," Jaune crossed his arms.

"Think of it as an opportunity to grow stronger," Pyrrha encouraged.

"So back to naming him," Yang said.

"I think Nora has the name down," Jaune jokingly said. Nora opened her mouth to say something in response, but Ren covered her mouth and sat her back down as soon as she did.

"I was thinking Jaune should have the honor of naming the cub, seeing as he was the one who found it," Ren said.

"I'm not sure about names," Jaune said while stroking the cub's fur, "but his fur does remind me of ashes."

"That's perfect, Ash for his fur!" Ruby exclaimed. The cub looked at Ruby in response.

"I think he likes it," Jaune gave a slight chuckle before turning to the cub, "What do you say, do you like the name Ash?"

The cub walked over to Jaune and rubbed his face against the knight's arm. A distinct purring sound could be heard as the cub exhaled, as if accepting the new name.

"So what should we do for training?" Pyrrha chimed in.

"I know, we should throw him in the arena with a boarbatusk and have them fight to the death," Nora said, earning a facepalm from the rest of her team as well as team RWBY.

"No, no, Nora, we're not going to potentially kill our new teammate," Ren lectured.

"We should talk about training later, I have to get down to the zoo and meet with someone so they can teach me how to raise a snow leopard," Jaune interrupted, "and I'm pretty sure you're all late for class."

"Oh, crap, he's right," Weiss said after checking the time on her scroll, "we have to go."

"We'll see you later Jaune," Ruby said before bolting out the door with the rest of team JNPR and RWBY.

"I guess it's just you and me, Ash," Jaune said before hooking a makeshift leash onto the cub.

Jaune decided to take a bus to the zoo instead of the airship in fear of vomiting on someone's shoe again. Getting off at the bus stop, Jaune wandered around with the cub and observed the different species of animals and grimm that had been discovered and captured. Jaune specifically analyzed the deathstalkers, the first type of grimm he'd encountered on initiation day. He looked for weaknesses he could use before walking away, shuddering at the thought of almost dying when he had fought one with his team.

"You must be Jaune. I was told that a student had somehow gotten his hands on a snow leopard cub, but I didn't believe it until now," Jaune heard a feminine voice approach him from behind. Jaune turned to see a tanned woman who was several inches shorter than him. She held out her hand, which he shook in response. He spotted her nametag which read 'Venus.'

"Yeah, I didn't believe it for a while either," Jaune said.

"I was told that you needed supplies to raise a cub, and I'm going to assume this is him," Venus said as she bent down to pet the cub. Ash purred as Venus stroked behind his ear.

"Yeah, he just appeared out of nowhere," Jaune replied.

"There's a storage shed in the back so if you'll follow me, we can get you your supplies," Venus said while pointing past the nevermore's cage.

As Jaune followed Venus, he gazed at each grimm species in awe. Jaune observed the bone-armor and each weakness of each species. It wasn't until the three got to the shed that he realized that observing the grimm at the zoo was pointless, remembering that grimm of the same species had different armor patterns. As soon as they were inside the shed, Venus pulled out a list of objects to gather.

"Okay, you're going to need a heavy duty Kevlar harness, a high carbon steel leash, three-hundred pounds of assorted raw meats-"

"Uh, how much is this all going to cost me?" Jaune asked while feeling his stomach drop with each item on the list.

"From what I've been told, Beacon Academy is taking full responsibility of your snow leopard and you're his handler. Sort of like how we have certain zookeepers assigned to take care of a certain animal here," Venus explained.

"That's convenient. So, how do I raise a snow leopard?" Jaune asked

"Besides feeding him, I'm pretty sure you're fine. I would say give him a lot of exercise, but since you're training him to kill grimm, I'm pretty sure you're fine," Venus answered.

"But how do I train a snow leopard to kill grimm if I can barely defend myself against only one ursa?" Jaune asked, "I'm probably the worst fighter at Beacon and I don't even think I can train Ash to sit without getting mauled."

"Zookeepers here handle bears, tigers and lions on a daily basis and they're not even trained to fight," Venus said, "Instead of acting as his Alpha, act like a brother to him. Forming a bond with him is the first step to training. Ash is still a baby, so there's plenty of time to form that bond before you even start training him."

Jaune smiled at the encouragement, "Thanks, Venus, right?"

"Yup, Venus Kasparian. If you have any questions, just stop by anytime you can," Venus said while handing the leash and harness over to Jaune.

"Thanks, for everything," Jaune said before exiting the storage shed. After securing the harness and leash, Jaune walked Ash back to Beacon, excited and nervous of the days to come.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: Sorry that it took a while for this chapter to come out, last week was so fucking busy. Finals and shit, and I got sick. Well I'd like to know what you guys think so far. The journal entry was something I wanted to introduce earlier in the story, but I wanted to keep it similar to the first chapter of the original one because I was really satisfied with how I set up the story with that chapter so yeah. From here on out, it's going to cover the three months that I skipped in the story.**

* * *

Jaune sat at his desk with a pen in hand and a small journal laid out in front of him. Jaune opened the journal and read the message that had been written on the inside of the front cover out loud. This seemed like the thousandth time he had read the message out loud since his admission into the school.

"I am Jaune Arc. I am the son of Yves Arc who was the great grandson of Beltran Arc. I carry Crocea Mors as proof of being the proper inheritor of the family. This is a record of my time at Beacon from my eyes. This journal will serve as proof of my existence as well as a set of instructions to my comrades in case I am dead," Jaune shuddered at the thought of his own death, "Cavendum futurorum Nil homini certum est aenigmatica et in posterum."

Jaune turned to a fresh page and began to write.

 **It has been several weeks since my arrival at Beacon Academy. Other than the daily events of Nora almost drinking coffee, being dragged around by Ruby at top speed, being rejected by Weiss again, and training with Pyrrha, a snow leopard cub had appeared just outside my team's dorm room. I have named him Ash and have agreed to train him. It wasn't uncommon for a student to have an animal companion for combat, but Ash seems very strange. Ash has been extremely obedient since his arrival, despite having no previous training. I am suspicious that Ash had come looking specifically for me. His crying had stopped when he first saw me, like I was an old friend. Maybe I'm wrong and I'm just paranoid, or maybe something bigger is going on.**

 **All Arcs that had come before me had participated in wars that shifted the course of the world and I fear that another one is approaching. The dream still bothers me. I have never had a dream so vivid and disturbing like that one. I thought I'd forget, but the images of Vale, Beacon, my home, I can't get them out of my mind. I can't stand it. The thought of the corpses of my friends I had made is unbearable. The strange part is that this dream didn't seem like a dream. This dream was more like a vision of the future or memories of a different life.**

Tears streamed down Jaune's face as he closed the journal. Closing his eyes, Jaune recalled the dream, and visualized the scene.

 _He stood at the cliff in front of Beacon, and looked around at the destruction. Vale's walls had fallen and grimm had flooded the city. Jaune then looked at the tombstones that marked where his friends and comrades lay and fell to his knees._

" _I couldn't save them," Jaune said._

" _It wasn't your fault," Blake approached from behind._

" _Yes it was!" Jaune screamed through the tears, "I have the power to protect, so why couldn't I protect them?!"_

" _Blake's right, Jaune," Ren spoke up, "Even if we could do it over again, there's nothing we can do to stop them from dying. The only thing we can do now is put a stop to this destruction."_

"Jaune, are you okay?" Nora's voice had pulled Jaune back to reality.

"I'm fine," Jaune said before blowing his nose and hiding his journal.

"But you're crying," Nora said. Her face was plastered with concern.

"Oh, this? Weiss just rejected me again," Jaune lied.

"Jaune—, "

"Nora, I'm okay. We'll talk later, Pyrrha's probably waiting for me on the roof. C'mon, Ash." Jaune said while strapping Crocea Mors to his belt and exited the room.

"What do you think's up with Jaune?" Nora asked to Ren.

"I'm sure it's nothing, Nora," Ren said as he turned the page of the book in his hands.

"I'm just worried, that's the first time I've ever seen him cry," Nora said while sitting down. She undid Ren's hair and began to braid it.

"Maybe he's homesick," Ren said as he moved forward to give Nora room to work with his hair, "I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"Hmmm, I guess you're right," Nora agreed.

"By the way, did you do your homework yet?" Ren asked.

"The question is, did _you_ do your homework yet, Ren?" Nora asked to avoid answering.

Ren sighed in defeat. Not wanting to start an argument, he continued to read his book while Nora braided his hair. Ren continued to think of possible reasons that would cause his leader to cry. The problem was that there was a multitude of reasons: the pressure of being a leader, the stress of making the grade, being rejected one too many times by Weiss, a sad plot twist in the most recent issue of the X-ray and Vav comics. Any of those could have been a valid reason as to why Jaune could have been crying but another thought bothered Ren.

'Could it be?' Ren thought, 'If it is, then I need to talk it over with Nora and Pyrrha.'

Jaune parried Pyrrha's strike then brought his blade down, only to be blocked by Pyrrha's shield. Jaune leapt back to create some space and allow himself to plan his next strike. Pyrrha closed the distance and swung Milo, which Jaune blocked. Pyrrha spun to her right, effectively bashing Akuou into Jaune's face. Jaune fell backwards from the force of the blow.

"And that makes what, seventeen consecutive losses?" Jaune asked as he laid down. Ash came over and licked Jaune's cheek.

"Who's keeping count anyway?" Pyrrha shrugged before commenting, "That makes twenty-three, by the way."

"Whatever," Jaune groaned.

"I was joking," Pyrrha chuckled before offering her hand to Jaune, to which he gladly accepted, "Let's work on your aura now."

Jaune sighed in response.

"Jaune, we can't just keep putting that off," Pyrrha tried to persuade Jaune, "Every huntsman needs to know how to use aura, it can save you on the battlefield."

"Fine, where do we start?" Jaune reluctantly agreed.

"First, you're going to have to cut your arm. Oh, and make it as deep as you can," Pyrrha instructed.

"Wait, what?" Jaune asked in disbelief.

"You heard me, the deeper the better," Pyrrha said with a smile on her face.

"Pyrrha, I haven't done that since three weeks ago and I don't think I want to do it again," Jaune said, holding his hands up defensively.

"Just trust me. Healing an injury using aura is a fundamental skill that all students are taught in combat schools," Pyrrha explained, "and if anything goes wrong, I can heal you with my aura."

"O-okay," Jaune said. Taking his blade, Jaune took a deep breath and closed his eyes before slowly letting the sword sink into the skin of his forearm. Jaune tried to avoid thinking of the pain while he dragged the blade through his flesh and muscle. Jaune put the blade down and started to panic as soon as he opened his eyes. "Pyrrha, what do I do? Blood's starting to come out quickly!"

"Okay, Jaune, calm down. Panicking like that is only going to cause you to lose more blood," Pyrrha explained, "If it helps close your eyes and focus on the wound."

Jaune did as he was instructed.

"Good, now try to picture power flowing from your stomach to your hand," Pyrrha tried her best to explain the use of aura, "feel the power on both sides of the cut pulling towards each other and becoming one."

Jaune felt a surge of warmth extend throughout his torso, making its way out his shoulder and up his arm. Jaune felt a gap in the warmth where the cut is. Jaune willed his aura to flood into the cut and come together. A small white light traveled the length of the cut, sewing the flesh back together and left no evidence of an injury. The pain subsided and the glowing stopped.

"How do you feel?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune flexed his hand to make sure everything was healed, "Nothing hurts anymore, so I think I did it right."

"Good, that's the first step to using your aura, and you did it perfectly," Pyrrha praised.

"Really? How many students get that right on their first try?" Jaune asked.

"Most students, actually," Pyrrha said, "But for you to use your aura so quickly after just an explanation shows that maybe you do belong here."

"Great, so what's next?" Jaune asked excitedly.

"Next, we get ready for bed, unless you want to stick your sword into your forearm again," Pyrrha said as she checked the time on her scroll.

"Uh, no thanks. Cutting my arm open once is enough for one night," Jaune said while cleaning the blood off of Crocea Mors.


End file.
